By Lea Kahn, Staff Writer
Spring cleaning should not be limited to the closets, but should also include cleaning out the medicine cabinet. That’s the advice of the Lawrence Township Police Department.
But where should those expired or unneeded medications be dropped? Not in the trash and not down the drain, but in the Project Medicine Drop box at the Lawrence Township Police Department. There is no charge for the service.
The drop box, which is in the lobby of the Police Department, looks like a U.S. Postal Service mailbox but is clearly marked for medicine disposal. The lobby is open around the clock, every day of the week. Pills in containers are accepted, but not loose pills or liquids.
The Project Medicine Drop Box was installed in the Police Department lobby in January 2014. More than 550 pounds of unwanted or expired medicine was collected in 2014. During the first three months of this year, 122 pounds of unwanted or expired medicine has been collected, according to police Lt. Joseph Amodio.
The project was launched last year in conjunction with the state Division of Consumer Affairs of the New Jersey Office of the Attorney General. The goal is to keep drugs from falling into the wrong hands, according to officials.
The diversion of prescription drugs into the hands of those who should not possess them has reached epidemic proportions, Douglas Collier, the drug initiative coordinator in the New Jersey Office of the Attorney General, said when the medicine drop box was installed at the Police Department.
Youngsters often search their parents’ medicine cabinet for drugs and may experiment with them or sell them, Mr. Collier said. Young people in the 18- to 25-year-old age group are most likely to engage in the use and abuse of prescription drugs, and that’s why it is important to keep the drugs out of their hands.
The New Jersey Division of Consumer Affairs encourages parents and grandparents to discuss with young family members all of the dangers of taking prescription and over-the-counter medication for non-medical and non-approved uses, and to let them know that the adults are keeping tabs on the medicines in the house.
Adults should keep an inventory of all medicines in the house. The drugs should be kept in one place — possibly in a locked cabinet, a locked drawer or in a childproof lockbox.
Medicine intended for one person should not be given to someone else, because a drug that is prescribed for a specific person may be harmful to someone else.
Unused or unwanted drugs should be disposed of in a safe and secure manner. They should not be tossed into the garbage, which could make them available to those who would abuse the drugs or sell them.
The drugs also should not be flushed down the drain because it causes risks to the environment and may be harmful to others if the medicine gets into the water supply. That’s why they should be disposed of by taking them to the Project Medicine Drop container at the Police Department.
